Graduate Alumni Highlights

PhD Alumni

Christopher Prener (PhD 2015) is an assistant professor of sociology at Saint Louis University where he teaches graduate courses in statistics and geographic information science, an undergraduate seminar on HBO’s “The Wire,” and Introduction to Sociology for pre-medical students. Chris is developing a book manuscript from his dissertation analyzing how emergency medical service work is spatially distributed within a city. He also has a new project asking how temporary and permanent street closures in the City of St. Louis affect fire department responses. Finally, Chris is continuing to collaborate with Northeastern’s Alisa Lincoln on her study of literacy and mental illness.

Chase Billingham (PhD 2013) is an assistant professor of sociology at Wichita State University. His current research expands on many of the themes that he began investigating as a graduate student, including gentrification, racial segregation, and contemporary school reform. Recent articles by Chase have appeared in Urban Studies, Urban Education, and The Journal of Education Policy. In addition, Chase recently collaborated with Northeastern sociology professor and chair Matthew Hunt on a widely publicized article in Sociology of Education. Chase lives in Wichita with his wife Maya and their one-year-old son Alistair. See more information about Chase and his research on his website.

Eric Madfis (PhD 2012) is an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Washington, Tacoma where his scholarship focuses on theoretical criminology, social control, school shootings, and the school-to-prison pipeline. As a nationally-recognized expert on the causes and prevention of school violence, he has spoken to audiences across the country and around the world about his research, including at the 2015 United States Congressional Briefing on School Safety and Violence Prevention in Washington, D.C. He is the author of numerous articles, book chapters, as well as a recent book The Risk of School Rampage (2014) published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Amy Lubitow (PhD 2011) has been an Assistant Professor at Portland State University since 2011. In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate courses related to environmental sociology, sustainability, and political sociology, she also conducts research on transportation justice, bicycling inequalities, and urban mobilities. Her research has been published in Urban Studies, Environmental Justice, Social Movement Studies and other peer-reviewed outlets. She has received funding for her research from the American Sociological Association’s fund for the Advancement of the Discipline, the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, and Oregon Sea Grant. She’s also earned awards for her teaching and community-engaged research at Portland State. Read more on her website.

Shobha Hamal Gurung (PhD 2003) is an associate professor of sociology and women and gender studies at Southern Utah University and Program Director of SUU’s Nepal Studies Program. Her broad expertise on the lives and experiences of Nepali women is reflected in her numerous publications, including: “Nepali Female Migrants and Informalization of Domestic and Care Work: Service or Servitude?” (Journal of Workplace Rights 2010); “Growing Up Hindu: Mapping the Memories of a Nepali Woman in the United States” (Living Religions 2008);“Sex Trafficking and the Sex Trade Industry: The Processes and Experiences of Nepali Women”(Journal of Intercultural Studies 2014); “Gendered Labor: Experiences of Nepali Women Within Pan-Ethnic informal Labor Markets in Boston and New York” with Bandana Purkayastha (Immigrant Workers (University of Illinois Press; 2013); and “Fluidity and Realities of Race, Class, and Gender:Different Places, Times, and Contexts” (Routledge International Handbook of Race, Class, and Gender 2014). Her book Nepali Migrant Women: Resistance and Survival in America was published by Syracuse University Press in 2015.

MA Alumni

Laura Visser (MA, 2011) has been appointed Assistant Professor in Organization Studies at Radboud University in the Netherlands. She completed her dissertation at Radboud, focusing on power and diversity in the use of communication technologies by healthcare professionals and patients. For this project on healthcare innovations she drew on a wide range of social theories, including theories of power, which she engaged with during her Master’s at Northeastern. Other research interests include gender and diversity, (post-)feminism, and organizational sociology. You can find her profile page here.